Shop-clerk Lorraine McCalliskey called a robbers bluff when she drew her own blade

(Editor’s note… it has been brought to my attention that this actually did occur in the UK. There is a Devon on Long Island, and I assumed it took place there since I have not seen anything written about the woman who defended herself facing a backlash from police. Because as we have seen on multiple occasions, people in the UK who defend themselves, even in their own home, have faced arrest. I made an assumption that turns out to have been incorrect, and am working to adjust my piece accordingly.

I apologize for the mistake. H. Clay Aalders – Editor)

I find it somewhat ironic that the UK Sun, which is so hoplophobic when it comes knives within Britain’s shores, celebrates a defensive knife use by a Long Island UK store clerk. Lorraine McCalliskey called the bluff of a hooded, knife-wielding man, literally – she called him out.

A SHOP assistant had a Crocodile Dundee moment when she saw off a knife-wielding robber by pulling a blade on him.

Fearless Lorraine McCalliskey, 36, told the thug: “Come on then, let’s have a go if you want to have a go”…

…Shop assistant Lorraine was alone at 10pm when the man entered her corner shop in Tiverton, Devon.

He produced a steak knife and demanded cash from the till.

But he fled empty-handed when Lorraine pulled out a small packing knife from under the counter.

She said: “For a moment I thought, ‘Shall I give him the money?’

“Then I thought ‘No, I’m going to get a knife’.

“I suppose it was adrenaline kicking in.

“When I said ‘Let’s have a go’, he jumped back.”

There is an adage, “Show-ers don’t stab, Stabbers don’t show”. While I would strongly suggest that you take that advice with a grain of salt and with full understanding of your own abilities, I personally believe it largely holds true. In every CCTV recording I have ever seen of a stabbing, the victim had no idea they were about to be shanked. It happens out of nowhere.

“Run-Fu” is almost always the technique of choice. But if I personally find myself in a situation where someone is waving a knife at me and I am unable to flee, I am going to call the bluff. I have been training Krav Maga for several years now and practice, on a weekly basis) how to disarm someone with a knife once they attempt an offensive move. That said, avoiding the situation entirely, is the most preferable situation of all.

Give in to thugs and you get more thugs. If more people said NO to crime we would have less of it.
That said, personally I will avoid a knife fight. Everyone gets hurt in a real knife fight. I’d pick up a cricket bat or something with some reach to see the thug off. I have respect for this woman.

Why is this story described as taking place in Long Island? It says “her corner shop in Tiverton, Devon.” Devon is a county in England, and Tiverton is a town there. I can’t find anything that says that there is either a Tiverton or Devon in Long Island, New York.

Thank you for bringing that to my attention Josh. I made an erroneous assumption based on the fact that the woman who defended herself did not face backlash from police for using a knife to defend herself. We have seen people arrested for less.